I recently adopted a cat. And like every new pet owner, I had a lot of questions about their food, behavior, medication, and much more. Sure, asking questions on forums helps, but they don’t give you the complete picture. I also found a few apps which are designed for pets and their owners. So, if you are a seasoned pet owner or starting fresh, you’d still find these apps useful. Let’s check them out.
Best Pet Apps For New Owners
1. Puppr
Teach your dog cool new tricks
Teaching silly tricks to dogs is fascinating but also a lot harder than it sounds. It requires precision, timing, patience and lots of treats. Puppr at least solves one part of the problem, it helps you train your dogs better. The app gives you tutorials for every trick you can teach your dog with a difficulty meter.
Before you get started, just make sure you grab some treat. Once you open the app, you can choose from the list of lessons. From simple “sit” and “stay” to advanced tricks like “skateboard”, there are a lot of lessons you can teach your dog. There is also a clicker built right into the app. That said, there a few tricks locked behind a paywall and if your dog has learned all the free tricks, you wouldn’t mind paying $12. It’s very rewarding.
2. APCC by ASPCA
Find all possible foods, harmful to your pets
Many foods that humans eat are toxic to pets in varying degrees. This app helps the pet owner to identify common household items that could be toxic to animals. While it is common sense to keep any type of chemicals away from your pets but if somehow your pet manages to get their hands on some, you can quickly check the toxicity and take action accordingly. And god forbids, if it’s something serious, you can quickly call ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center to get help.
APCC is completely free and is available only for Android on the Play Store.
Install APCC by ASPCA (Android)
3. Anti Dog Whistle
Ultrasonic Whistle app to discipline your dogs
If your dog barks excessively for no reason, you can use this app to make them stop. The app is simple, it emits a sound frequency that compels the dog to behave. You may have to adjust the frequency according to your dog. When you find a suitable frequency for your dog, play the sound until the dog stops barking.
Keep in mind that the sounds produced by this app can also irritate your dogs as their hearing is very sensitive. Make sure you don’t leave this app running in the background or it might hurt your dog’s ears.
Anti Dog Whistle is free and has ads, you can get it on the Play Store. However, this app isn’t available for iOS, Dog Whistler is a similar app that works on iPhone.
Install Anti Dog Whistle (Android)
4. Dog Walk
Use this app to track your dog’s route
Dog walk as the name suggests, helps you track your dog’s walk. It logs time and distance covered and traces it to the map. If your dog poos during a walk you can drop a poo or pee pin on the route to mark the area. You can take pictures and when the walk finishes, it gets logged to your app.
Create profiles for different dogs and take them to their favorite routes. You can share your dog’s route with your friends as well who use the app. Dog Walk is free to use and you can use a GPS device sold by them to track your pets in real time. Check out their website to know more.
Install Dog Walk (Android)
5. Pet’s Diary
Reminder app for pets
Owning multiple pets can be challenging. Pets with different breeds/age have different needs. Pet’s Diary is a reminder app to notify you when it’s time to feed your pets or take them on a walk. You start off with creating a profile for your pet, it has most of the pet categories like cats, dogs, hamsters and even exotic pets like python and wallaby.
Once your profile is created you can add chores based on categories. For example, you can set a reminder for daily care like walks, food, water etc and the app would remind you with a notification every time. It also keeps a log of all the pets separate which is important if you want to show a report to your vet.
Pet’s Diary is best for pet owners who want to keep track of everything their pet needs ranging from food to vet appointments. It is free on the Play Store.
Install Pet’s Diary (Android)
6. Dog Care Encyclopedia
Everything you need to know about your dog
If you’re adopting or have recently adopted a dog, you need to know their needs to prevent any future conflicts. Dog Care Encyclopedia is a comprehensive app which has all the basic information such as — healthcare, first aid, behavior, toxic food, etc. It also has information on how to take care of puppies and senior dogs as both require special care.
Dog Care Encyclopedia is free and I recommend every new dog owner to keep it on their phones.
Install Dog Care Encyclopedia ( Android)
7. The Bark
Culture magazine for dogs
The Bark is a digital magazine covers topics ranging from health, behavior, activities, and travel. It issues a new magazine every quarter. You can subscribe to the magazine for $12.99/ year and receive all the key benefits like quarterly issues, exclusive videos, expert advisory columns etc.
The app is free to download and you can purchase individual magazines as in-app purchases or take a yearly subscription.
Install The Bark (Android | iOS)
8. CAT ALONE 2
Developed for cats to play with digital objects
There aren’t much rodents and insects in modern apartments for your cats to kill and that’s why this app is so popular. As you can guess by the name CAT ALONE 2 is the second part of the game CAT ALONE.
It gives your cat something to satiate their prey drive. It has six different games, spider, rat, feather, water drop, dandelion, and a glowing insect. You can choose any one or mix all to keep things interesting. Everything is random so your cat doesn’t get bored with the games.
This game is so much fun and my cat loves it. You can get it for free on the Play Store and App Store.
Install CAT ALONE 2 (Android | iOS)
9. RVC Pet Diabetes
Keep a log of your pets blood sugar levels and treatments
Diabetes is very common in pets, which is what this app tries to aid. Simply, create a profile of your pet and enter all the required fields, you can then keep a log of diabetes and other medication. You can set reminders for medication and insulin injections, the app would send a notification when its time. The app is very comprehensive but a little difficult to get used to. You can participate to make the app better by filling out surveys and applying for clinical trials. The app sends anonymous data to the developers to create a better platform for all the pets with diabetes.
RVC Pet Diabetes app is great for diabetic pets and their owners. It is only available for Android right now.
Install RVC Diabetes App (Android)
10. 11pets
All in one app for pet owners
You can use it to manage pet medications, and set reminders. It also reminds you to set an appointment for grooming, deworming, vaccination, and hygiene. The supply tracking feature keeps track of supplies and reminds you if anything is about to run out of stock. You can store medical records, like lab tests and medical conditions.
Unlike, Pet’s Diary, 11pets can also generate a detailed report if you regularly keep a log of food and medication. It is best for beginners but also offers services for Animal welfare organizations, and professional groomers.
11pets is the perfect pet management tool for pet owners, animal welfare organizations and professional groomers. It is available for both Android and iOS.
Install 11pets (Android | iOS)
Wrapping UP
These were some of the apps that I find useful in managing and playing with my pets. Puppr is a great app to train your dogs and even better if you have a puppy. My cat does what he pleases and I can’t really train him so I use CAT ALONE app to keep him from wreaking havoc around my house. There are some very useful apps in the list like Pet’s Diary, 11pets, and RVC Diabetes app, these apps help in managing food, medication, and diabetes for the pets and offer insightful data. Did I miss any app? Which app do you use? Tell me in the comments below.
If you are like me who leave the house to the pets and then worry about them the whole day, use these pet monitoring apps to check up on them.